The Montreal Canadiens (27-15-7) are set to the Minnesota Wild (28-13-9), with the puck drop scheduled for 7:00 pm ET.
Even though the Habs managed to beat the Ottawa Senators on Saturday with an impressive comeback, it was quite clear that the team did not perform at their best in the 6-5 overtime win. The Canadiens only managed to put 19 shots on net, winning on the back of yet another weak outing from Senators netminder Leevi Meriläinen.
If Martin St-Louis’ team hopes to beat the Wild, they’ll have to offer a much more consistent effort, both defensive and offensively.
Minnesota is fresh off wins versus the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Buffalo Sabres, and have been significantly bolstered by the addition of star defender Quinn Hughes, who was acquired in exchange for the sum of the parts from the Vancouver Canucks.
In 18 games with his new team, Hughes has produced an impressive 20 points, making Minnesota one of the best teams in the Western Conference in the process. As it stands, the Wild are third overall in the NHL, with 65 points, four more than the Canadiens.
It’s also important to note the Habs have not managed to beat the Wild in well over five years, making Tuesday’s match-up an opportunity to not only build momentum down the final stretch of the season, but also overcome what feels like an insurmountable challenge by beating Minnesota.
The last time the Habs beat the Minnesota Wild was on Oct. 17, 2019:
— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) January 20, 2026
Rookie Nick Suzuki scored his first career NHL goal, in his 7th NHL game.
But he was overshadowed by Victor Mete also scoring his first career NHL goal, in his 127th NHL game.
pic.twitter.com/VQOcDZ6uDW
Lineup Changes, Starting Goalie
Alex Texier will not be able to suit up versus the Wild, as he’s currently sidelined day-to-day. However, there is some excellent news to report, as Kirby Dach will make his long awaited return to play, after recovering from his latest injury.
Dach is expected to play alongside Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield on the first line, which tells us two things.
The first is that St-Louis is not afraid to immediately throw Dach in the deep end, and the second being that the team must be confident in his health status, despite his laundry-list of season-ending injuries in past seasons.
To give you an idea of Dach’s lack of luck in the injury department, he’s missed 163 games since joining the Canadiens a few years ago, which means he’s only played in 45% of the possible games since the trade to Montreal.
As for the starting goaltender, it will be Jakub Dobes who faces the Wild. Dobes has not lost in regulation since December 9, however, his last two wins took place while he only managed to produce a sub .900 save percentage. In other words, he’s been receiving a healthy amount of offensive support, a situation that must continue if the Canadiens hope emerge with a victory versus Minnesota.
Montreal Canadiens Projected Lineup
Cole Caufield – Nick Suzuki – Kirby Dach
Juraj Slafkovsky – Oliver Kapanen – Ivan Demidov
Brendan Gallagher -Phillip Danault – Josh Anderson
Joe Veleno – Jake Evans – Brendan Gallagher
Mike Matheson – Noah Dobson
Lane Hutson – Alex Carrier
Kaiden Guhle* – Jayden Struble
Jakub Dobes
Minnesota Wild Lineup
Kirill Kaprizov – Danila Yurov – Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Johansson – Ryan Hartman – Vladimir Tarasenko
Marcus Foligno – Nico Sturm – Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Yakov Trenin – Ben Jones – Tyler Pitlick
Quinn Hughes – Brock Faber
Jake Middleton – Jared Spurgeon
Daemon Hunt – David Špaček
Jesper Wallstedt
How To Watch The Habs Vs. The Wild
The Montreal Canadiens versus the Minnesota Wild, Tuesday, January 20, 2026, will be aired on TSN2 and RDS. An instant recap complete with highlights will be available on Sportsnaut as soon as the final whistle blows.
